OOPS Project Idea: Database

[khuzdaar]

We have started Object Oriented Programming in C++. And it has been four weeks. We were taught about Constructors, copy constructors, operators overloading functions, binary/unary and ofcourse, basics about classes.

I need to get a project approved by teacher. She still has to teach us Inheritance. So we still know the fundamentals but nothing too advanced for decent oops. Anyway, I thought of making a DATABASE of a hospital records as my project. Some said a libary or a store is also an option.

I have little next to no idea about this database. Question is
-is it a decent project proposal?
-what is a databse basically providing?
-Should it be predefined (already names and histories and the patient's health notes are fed into it or are to be input)
-how big the databse should be?
-am I on the same page as the database? Or if you could explain to me briefly?

Thank you for your time.

[deceptikon]

So we still know the fundamentals but nothing too advanced for decent oops.

The humorous thing is that in a few years you'll probably see "decent OOP" as unmaintainable shit and revert back to the fundamentals. The process of learning, especially with C++, seems to revolve around overcompensation. You learn a new feature and abuse it until it seems like a bad feature, then overcompensate by cutting out any use of the feature.

Eventually, the better programmers take an attitude of moderation with a strong tendency toward simplicity. So I imagine what you're calling "decent OOP" is something that experienced programmers will be using with moderation.

-is it a decent project proposal?

Yes. I'd recommend the store option, or more specifically a point of sale system, but interface details are largely irrelevant at this point.

-what is a databse basically providing?

Any persisted data. For a hospital it would be medical records like personal information, medical history, visit history, and procedure details.

-Should it be predefined (already names and histories and the patient's health notes are fed into it or are to be input)

It doesn't matter, though some seeded data would be a good idea for development purposes.

-how big the databse should be?

As big as it needs to be? :P I suspect you'll just be using a simple file for the database, and the size of the file is largely irrelevant given that this isn't a database meant for production use. So you don't have to worry about it being robust in the presence of millions of records or anything.

-am I on the same page as the database?

I don't understand the question.

[khuzdaar]

Thank you very much. that was very helpful. My last question meant, that I am on the right page when I say Database of oop is basically recording, storing, accessing data using files and classes.
If I choose database of a hospital, I provide data, let's say I predefined it, and then a user can access those files and records through my database. Or he can input some of his own. That is all that I need to provide as a programmer of this project, yes?

Lastly, is hospital database better or the store database?
And can you provide me a link with an example of a database so that i can understand how I should begin my project?

[deceptikon]

If I choose database of a hospital, I provide data, let's say I predefined it, and then a user can access those files and records through my database. Or he can input some of his own. That is all that I need to provide as a programmer of this project, yes?

Yea, pretty much.

Lastly, is hospital database better or the store database?

As far as you're concerned for this project database is a database. Whether it's for a hospital or a store, the actual database stuff will be so similar as to be the same.

And can you provide me a link with an example of a database so that i can understand how I should begin my project?

At this level it's just a text file. For example, you could have each line of the file represent a record and each piece of the record be separated with a pipe character. For example:

Name|Age|Height|Weight
John Doe|45|6.0|210
Jane Doe|43|5.6|140